1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to animal leashes having locking mechanisms for preventing the unauthorized release or theft of the animal and more particularly to ergonomically designed sequence locking mechanisms for same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Animal leashes are known which have some form of locking mechanism. Some such know leashes lock the collar space around the neck of the animal or lock the opposite end of the leash around some permanent object such as a pole or tree. Other known leashes provide locks for both the animal collar and the opposite lease end.
An example of the first mentioned single lock leash is found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,462,019 issued to Shiau Horg-Rong et. al.: 5,174,246 issued to Wilfred D. Drier and 3,867,905 issued to Richard Vail Jr. All of these patents teach the use of a lock mechanism to wrap the handle end of the leash around some permanent obstacle and to then keep it in place. The lock is usually some protrusion that engages a chain link used as the leash. In other cases it is some form of snap device formed at the end of a cable leash which engages an eyelet connected to the same leash. When unlocked the handle end forms a simple loop which the animal handler may loop around his wrist. This type of handle is not only cumbersome to hold but may even cause